Education Top Priority, Says Murad Raas

Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas on Tuesday said that education must be top priority and should not be politicized in order to achieve the desired goals

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2022 ) :Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas on Tuesday said that education must be top priority and should not be politicized in order to achieve the desired goals.

He was speaking at a meeting here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCC). LCCI President Kashif Anwar and Executive Committee Members were present.

The provincial minister said the Punjab government had taken revolutionary measures by bringing changes in the province's school education sector that aimed at setting new standards and change the department's affairs for good.

He said that the Private Schools Act was not upgraded since 1984, adding that the Punjab government took this initiative while taking the representatives of private schools into confidence.

He said that the NGOs were exaggerating the data of out-of-school children for personal interest.

Murad Raas said that there was around 2 to 2.5 billion rupee corruption in School Education Department in terms of transfers of teachers, postings, leaves, ACRs, promotion and retirement dues but "We have broken that system".

He said that an APP had been introduced and now the teacher could apply for everything with comfort from their smart phones, adding that the dues on retirement would directly go into the account of the teacher.

"When a teacher will be free of all of these hassles, he will be able to provide quality education to the students", the Minister added.

He said that education sector needed at least 10 years concentrated efforts.

He said, "We have never stopped the education program of the previous government but removed the lacunas." He added there were at least two teachers for 40 students in Punjab.

The provincial minister said that 250,000 children were benefiting from the card given by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government but Punjab government had introduced educational facilities for 4 million children.

He said that 2000 new classrooms had been built in the schools of Punjab, adding, "Now the teachers are getting online training and our team is monitoring it regularly."On the occasion, LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that with increasing inflation and cost of living, children often had to choose between going to school and providing additional income for their households.

He said that the public schooling sector in Pakistan needed to be transformed according to the needs of the changing times so that demand driven skills could be imparted in schoolchildren. "In this regard, LCCI recommends that Technical and Vocational training streams should be initiated in our school education curricula," he added.